1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle door outer handle device in which an inwardly recessed housing recess is provided in a base member fixed to a vehicle door, an outer handle having an operation portion is pivotably supported on the base member while being able to pivot to an operated position in accordance with pulling of the operation portion and being spring-biased toward a non-operated position side, at least part of the operation portion being disposed in the housing recess, and a cylinder lock is mounted on the base member so that a key hole is covered at least in a state in which the outer handle is in the non-operated position.
2. Description of the Related Art
An outer handle device in which, in order to prevent water from entering a key hole of a cylinder lock mounted on a base member, the key hole is hidden by a cover part provided so as to be connected to an operation portion of an outer handle is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-241532. Furthermore, an outer handle device used in a smart entry system in which a cylinder lock mounted on a base member as an emergency measure when there is a failure, etc. is covered by a cover member so that it is not visible from the outside in a normal state in order to enhance theft-proofness is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-295063.
However, in the arrangement disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-241532, since the key hole is covered by the cover part provided so as to be connected to the operation portion of the outer handle, regardless of whether the cylinder lock is in use or not, when the outer handle is operated, the key hole is exposed. Because of this, the position of the cylinder lock is easily identified by a third party, thus making it undesirable from the viewpoint of theft-proofness. Furthermore, in the arrangement disclosed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-295063, the cover member projects from the base member so as to face an end part of the outer handle, and this also allows a third party to easily identify the position of the cylinder lock.